course, and then they take whoever requires them.” She paused. “Not all our patients have relatives who recognize their existence.”
“It must be difficult,” Annie said, not entirely sure what she meant.
She turned to Mel again. “Had you ever seen this Mary before?” she asked.
“No.”
“Are you certain it was a woman?”
“I think so,” Mel said. “It was mostly her voice, you know. I couldn’t see much of her face because she was wearing a hat and glasses, and she had a long raincoat on with the collar turned up so, you know, it sort of hid her shape, her figure and her neck. I’m pretty sure, though.”
“What was her voice like?”
“Just ordinary.”
“Any particu lar accent?”
F R I E N D O F T H E D E V I L
4 9
“No. But not Yorkshire, like, or Geordie. Just sort of neutral. She didn’t say very much, just said she was a friend and had come to take Karen for a walk.”
“What
“She was quite slight. You know, wiry. Not very tall.”
“Did you catch a glimpse of her hair color at all?”
“Not really. I think it must have been under the hat.”
“What kind of hat?”
“I don’t know. A hat. With a brim.”
“What color?”
“Black.”
“Any idea what age she was?”
“Hard to say. I didn’t get a real look at her face. Old, though. From the way she moved and her general appearance, I’d say maybe late thirties or forty.”
Annie let that go by. “Anything distinguishing about her?”
“Just ordinary, really.”
“Okay. Did you see her car? She couldn’t have walked here.”
“No,” said Mel. “I mean, I was inside all the time. Someone might have seen it in one of the parking spots.”
“Do you have CCTV in the car park?”
“No. We don’t have it at all here. I mean, it’s not as if the patients are under guard or they’re going to do . . . you know, run away or anything.”
“How did Karen react to the idea of a walk with Mary?”
Mel fiddled with her ring and reddened. “She didn’t. I mean, sh-she couldn’t, could she? Karen was a quadriplegic. She couldn’t communicate.”
“Did she have any particu lar friends here?” Annie asked. “Anyone she spent a lot of time with?”
“It’s difficult when a person can’t communicate,” Mel said. “You tend to be confined to a pretty solitary existence. Of course, the staff here make sure she has all she needs. They talk to her, tell her what’s going on. They’re all truly wonderful people. And she has her television, of course. But . . . well, it all goes in, but nothing comes out.”
Mel shrugged.
5 0 P E T E R
R O B I N S O N
“So you had no way of knowing whether she recognized Mary or not? Or, indeed,
“No. But why would this Mary . . . I mean . . .” Mel started crying. Grace passed her a handkerchief from her pocket and touched her shoulder again. “Why would anybody want to take Karen out if they didn’t know her?” Mel went on. “What would be the point?”
“Well, I think we know the answer to that,” Annie said. “Someone wanted to get her alone in an isolated spot and kill her. The puzzle that remains is why. Was Karen wealthy?”
“I believe she had some money from the sale of her house,” Grace said, “but that would all have been put toward her care. I wouldn’t say she was wealthy, no.”
“How did she end up here, by the way?” Annie asked.
“Drunk driver,” said Grace. “Broke her back. Awkward area. Spinal cord damage. It happens far more often than you would imagine.
Tragic case.”
“There’d be insurance, then?”
